The Mets came off a 2 game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates and awaited the arrival of the Braves to Shea. Going into the series the Mets planned to send Steve Trachsel, Victor Zambrano, and an unknown pitcher to the mound. The opposing pitchers were scheduled to be Kyle Davies, Tim Hudson, and John Smoltz.
Steve Trachsel was coming off a horrible outing in Atlanta. Kyle Davies started the game at 2-2 both of those wins coming off the Mets. Both Trach and Davies pitched 6 innings allowing 4 runs on 9 hits. The Mets bullpen combined for 3 runs on 7 hits over 6 innings. The Braves bullpen combined for 4 runs on 7 hits over 7 innings. This game lasted 14 innings. Cliff Floyd hit a HR in the 11th to retie the game. Jose Reyes recorded 5 hits for the first time in his young career while reaching base 6 times. David Wright reached base 6 times with three hits. Carlos Beltran recorded 4 hits including a HR. LoDuca, Delgado, Matsui and Trachsel recorded a hit each and reached base for a combined 6 times. The Mets won the game on a David Wright double scoring Carlos Beltran.
Victor Zambrano was coming off his best outing of the season. He threw a great curve ball in this game and did not allow a hit. However he only faced 4 batters. After striking out 2 batters in the first Zambrano came into the second and struck out Andruw Jones, he then ran into the dugout and proceeded to the clubhouse. He left the game and it was later announced that Vic tore a flexor muscle in his elbow and will miss the rest of the season. Darren Oliver took over and pitched 4 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 8 over 4 innings. Tim Hudson pitched 6.1 innings allowing 6 runs on 9 hits. The Braves bullpen held the fort for 1.2 innings allowing just 1 hit. The Mets won this game 6-5 scoring 4 runs in the 7th inning. Jorge Julio recorded the save but did allow one run to score. Kaz Matsui hit a 2 RBI double in the 7th. Jose Reyes recorded 3 hits and scored 2 runs. Carlos Beltran hit a HR and walked twice. Carlos Delgado went 2 for 4 with a RBI. And a slumping Cliff Floyd went 0 for 2 with an RBI and a walk.
It was Lima Time in game 3 of this series on Sunday, and boy oh boy was the show not pretty. Lima was called on to make a start because John Maine (called up to make Brian Bannister's start) popped a blood vesicle in his figure on his pitching hand. Jose Lima allowed five runs on seven hits and four walks in five innings. The home plate umpire was Angel Hernandez and Hernandez and the Mets have not had many good experiences. In the second inning Hernandez made a bad call on a play at home, calling McCann safe at home when LoDuca tagged him out. LoDuca was so infuriated that he spiked the ball and was ejected. Bobby Cox was also ejected for arguing that John Smoltz should be on second. Bartolome Fortunato pitched horribly as he allowed 8 runs on 6 hits over 1.1 innings. Feliciano and Bradford combined for 2 innings allowing just a hit. The Met offense only scored 3 runs, including a HR by Carlos Beltran in the third. The Mets lost this one 13-3.
After the Game Paul LoDuca said that home plate umpire Angel Hernandez told Jose Lima, "I'm going to give you a couple inches off the plate, but I'm not going to give you 4 or 5 inches because you're not John Smoltz." LoDuca said, "I got a little problem with that." Lima said, "That makes me look like I'm a rookie up there." This combined with the bad play led to LoDuca’s argument. Going into this series I was not sure how well the Mets were going to do. And to tell the truth they impressed me. However Jose Lima and Bartolome Fortunato need to get the heck out of Shea. They are horrible. LoDuca has a right to be angry and I completely support his argument. With Zambrano out for the season and Bannister down for at least another start, the Mets need to make some big decisions over the next few days. As it stands now the Mets lead the NL east by 4 games over the Phillies. |
